DEAN McKeown has a heaven-sent opportunity at Newmarket this afternoon to make up for a bungling performance aboard Vicious Warrior last time out.

Admittedly we can all ride perfectly-judged races from the safety of the stands, but even to the untrained eye Dean didn't exactly cover himself in glory at Doncaster ten days ago when partnering Vicious Warrior.

You would have thought it pretty difficult to find trouble in a six-runner field at one of the widest and most galloping tracks in the country on the Town Moor. But instead of easing his mount to the outside, McKeown opted to stay on the inner that day.

Hopelessly boxed in by the other five runners from the three-furlong pole onwards, "the Dean machine" eventually gave up the uneven struggle and let his mount coast home over the final 250 yards.

We shall never know what would have happened had Vicious Warrior enjoyed a clear run. What we do know is that the three-year-old is potentially well-handicapped because had he won he would now have to carry an extra 6lb in the £50,000 Showcase Handicap.

I'm prepared to take the positive view, believing he would have won at Doncaster, in which case Richard Whitaker's Scarcroft, near Leeds, raider might just have a few pounds in hand on his rivals in his bid to land the nap selection at headquarters.

There's always a risk of burning out a two-year-old by running them in the heat of battle at Royal Ascot.

In the case of The Bonus King (2.50) we shall discover whether this is so shortly after 2.50 when the Group 3 July Stakes has been run. Mark Johnston's juvenile put up a career-best performance when beaten only a head by Richard Hannon's Barons Pit in the Norfolk Stakes at the Royal meeting in mid-June.

By general consensus The Bonus King is by far the best colt in the ten-runner line-up for the £40,000 showpiece, therefore the only danger of defeat comes from the possibility that he has lost his edge having previously taken part in such a gruelling shoot-out.

Not nearly so high class action at Catterick, although there might be money to made by siding with Lord Melbourne (4.10) in the Paddock Suite Handicap.

Jamie Osborne's consistent three-year-old won in a common canter over track and trip in May, handling the sharp bottom bend with some aplomb.

A low draw is also a massive advantage, and from stall two, the normally free-running Lord Melbourne ought to be able to show the opposition a clean pair of heels from the word go.

The man to follow at Catterick's last meeting was Tony Culhane, who notched a sizzling four-timer. Culhane might not be quite so hot today, but he does look like he'll claim the finale on Woody Bathwick (5.20), strongly fancied to land the five furlong Scotch Corner Handicap.

* John McCririck summed up the feelings of hordes of punters across the country yesterday as Tony Culhane committed the cardinal sin of dropping his hands and getting caught on the line at Pontefract yesterday.

The jockey was cruising to victory on the Barry Hills-trained 8-13 favourite True Courage in the Tanshelf Maiden Stakes when he eased the horse down in the final furlong, only to see Ted Durcan rowing away on John Dunlop's Kahalah.

Culhane, who has been in fine form, realised he was in trouble and started riding again. But it was to no avail as the Arundel runner got up by a length at 4-1.

He was given a 21-day ban by the local stewards but that was no consolation to furious locals at the track and certainly not to Channel 4's betting guru, who sees it as the latest in long line of misdemeanours by jockeys desperate not to win too far in order to protect a horse's rating.

''It's showing contempt for the punter - how much more can punters put up with?'' McCririck blasted. ''How many numerous bets, doubles and trebles, included that odds-on chance? I think it must have saved the bookmakers £2 million if you estimate it round.

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